Thursday, March 15, 2012

Emerging Details Of Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Point To A Lousy Deal

CNNMoney reports:
  • As more details emerge about the massive $26 billion foreclosure settlement between the five biggest mortgage lenders and the states' attorneys general, a growing number of borrowers are realizing that the deal will do little, if anything, to help them out.


  • Proponents of the settlement deal tout that roughly 1 million homeowners who owe more on their homes than their homes are worth are expected to have their mortgage balances lowered through principal reductions and another 750,000 would be able to refinance into loans with lower interest rates.


  • However, that's only a fraction of the 11 million homeowners who are currently underwater on their homes, according CoreLogic. And it's also a mere sliver of the 3.5 million people who lost their homes to foreclosure over the past four years.


  • "The impact [of this settlement] will be small," said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics. "It's not a home run; it's a single."

For more, see Rage grows over mortgage deal.